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	Committee on Academic Justice Awards Career Development Discrimination International Nominations Publications Scholarship and Human Rights Sister to Sister Social Action Committee Student Concerns

This Committee assists SWS members when they have experienced discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability, religion, or other group characteristics, or when their academic freedom or other rights are violated. As sociologists, we recognize that discrimination may be blatant or subtle, that it may consist of a single event or a series of incidents and interactions, and that it may be perpetrated by individuals or institutions. Discrimination may have direct consequences for the person experiencing it (such as the loss of a job), and/or subtle, cumulative effects over time (such as the erosion of self-confidence).

The Discrimination Committee offers members the following forms of support:

• When a member experiences discrimination that is blatant enough to be documented, the Committee is authorized to write a letter of support to an administrator at the member's workplace. A member could request such a letter, for example, if she experiences discrimination in the evaluation of her dissertation proposal, her annual evaluation, or in her tenure or promotion reviews. In such a case, the member needs to give as much information as possible about her case to the Discrimination Committee Chair. In consultation with the Committee and the SWS President, the Chair writes a letter on SWS letterhead.

• If a member hires a lawyer to assist her in resisting discrimination, the Committee can make a formal request to the SWS membership for financial support to help defray the cost of legal advice or representation. Once again, the member needs to give as much information as possible about her case to the Discrimination Chair, who consults with the Committee and presents a request to the SWS membership at the summer or winter meeting. The person's identity can be kept confidential.

• In either of the above cases, as well as in cases where an SWS member is experiencing subtle discrimination (such as social isolation, exclusion from important work roles or committees, double or shifting standards regarding "collegiality" or "quality of scholarship"), the Committee can find another SWS member who is willing to provide on-going informal support. This may take the form of checking in periodically to see how things are going and to discuss strategies of resistance, and so forth. A member who seeks this form of assistance should approach any member of the Discrimination Committee to make a request for such assistance.

• Finally, if an SWS member is interested in discussing any form of discrimination she is experiencing, whether or not she chooses to take any of the actions above, she may approach any member of the committee for informal support. The SWS winter meetings are an especially good time for conversation.

Beverlyn Lundy Allen, Chair Iowa State University Sociology Department 515-294-9107 blallen@iastate.edu

Carrie Smith Carrie.Smith@millersville.edu

Katja M. Guenther katja@ucr.edu

SWS Discrimination Committee Questionnaire (PDF)*


* These files are Adobe PDF Files. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.